COVID In Colorado: State Requires Unvaccinated Residential Care Staff Be Tested At Beginning Of Every Shift

(CBS4) -- The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) released update guidance Friday for residential care facilities serving older adults and people with disabilities.

The state is now requiring facilities to rapid test unvaccinated staff daily for COVID-19 at the beginning of each shift.

Unvaccinated residents who leave facilities overnight must be tested upon their return as well.

The mandate applies to skilled nursing facilities, assisted living residences, intermediate care facilities, and group homes.

"Residential care and nursing home communities have been on the front-line of mitigating COVID-19 throughout the pandemic and these added infection prevention measures will help us combat variants of concern and rising cases when they occur," said Randy Kuykendall, Director of CDPHE's Health Facilities and EMS Division.

The new rules come as health officials wrestle with increasing concerns about the efficiency of the Delta variant's airborne transmission and the growing numbers of hospitalizations in Colorado counties with the lowest rates of vaccination.